Time to Review and Update Your Company’s Employment Application and Interview Process

Effective January 1, 2018, all employers in California will be prohibited from asking a job applicant about their salary history. Employers may not ask, verbally or in writing, for any salary history information, including compensation and benefits. Only if an applicant voluntarily, and without prompting form the employer, discloses salary history information to the prospective employer, may the information be relied upon or considered in determining the salary for that applicant. Additionally, the employer shall provide the pay scale for the position being applied for upon an applicant’s “reasonable request” for such.

By the end of the year, employers should review all of their application and interview materials and remove any questions that inquire about an applicant’s past salaries, compensation, or benefits. They should also be prepared to provide a pay scale for each position in its company in the event an applicant requests such information.

AB 168 will be codified as Labor Code section 432.3 and does not apply to salary history information that is disclosable to the public under federal or state law.